Friday, September 25, 2009

Town Council Vacant Seat Update

Fayette County Democrat Committee looks for more time for nomination papers By Mary PickelsTRIBUNE-REVIEWFriday, September 25, 2009

Fayette County Judge Ralph Warman convened a hearing Thursday following the filing of an emergency motion by the county Democrat Committee, requesting additional time to file nomination papers for a Uniontown City Council candidate.

Douglas S. Sepic, attorney for the committee, filed the motion prior to a meeting by the Fayette County Election Board.

Sepic stated in his motion that a vacancy was created for the seat in March upon the resignation of Councilman Marlin Sprouts. Sprouts was forced to quit council after he entered a guilty plea in federal court to charges involving a mortgage scam.

Council appointed Philip Michael to fill Sprouts' unexpired term. But because Michael had lived in the city only since October, some residents questioned whether he met legal requirements to serve on council. Michael resigned in April after council candidate Gary Geary filed a lawsuit alleging Michael did not meet a one-year residence requirement of individuals who are elected to serve on council.

In April, council appointed Curtis Sproul to fill Michael's vacated seat. Sproul was to serve until the November election.

Yesterday, county Election Bureau Director Laurie Lint testified before Warman that in a letter dated March 26, she informed the chairmen of both political parties of the vacancy on council and that they could submit nominations until Sept. 14.

Lint said in a published report earlier this month that the seat would not appear on the November ballot and would have to be filled by appointment by the city council for an individual to serve through the 2011 election because the vacancy was created after the March 10 deadline to file primary nomination petitions.

"My understanding at the time was that it was not going to be on the ballot," Lint said.

Several weeks later, Sepic wrote, Lint said she learned that the vacancy legally had to be filled by accepting nomination petitions from the political parties.

"While presumably done inadvertently, the director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, nevertheless, set in motion a chain of events which have led to contradictory statements by or on behalf of the election bureau and/or the Fayette County Board of Elections, a change in electoral procedure, legal obscurity and confusion as to when and how the said Uniontown city council seat would be filled," Sepic wrote in his motion.

The Democrat Committee, he said, relied upon Lint's statements as to how the seat would be filled and did not appoint a candidate or file a nomination certificate.

Under Sepic's questioning, Lint acknowledged that she did not notify the public or either committee that her earlier comments were inaccurate.

The county Republican Committee filed on the last day possible, Sept. 14, submitting the name of Gary Altman. Altman is the committee's attorney and was permitted to participate in yesterday's hearing.

Also testifying was Fred Lebder, Democrat Committee chairman. He said he visited the election bureau and, because Lint was not there at the time, asked a staff member to call the Department of State to confirm the March letter.

He did not recall the date of the visit, but said his understanding following the phone call was that the seat was going to be filled by appointment. He later saw Lint's published comments regarding nominations and was told they were accurate.

Altman requested a dismissal of Sepic's motion, claiming it was filed too late, stating that no provision exists in election law for late filing and questioning whether the Democrat Committee would have had time to file nomination papers before the Sept. 14 deadline.

Warman said he would take the matter under advisement and rule at a later date.

Print E-mail this Related News:Uniontown residents accused in burglary waive charges to court Council faces another Uniontown appointment County studies austerity programsCounty studies austerity programs A Fayette County judge is considering whether to grant the county Democratic Party's request to extend the deadline to nominate a candidate for special election to fill a seat on Uniontown City Council.

Judge Ralph C. Warman convened the hearing late Thursday afternoon to hear arguments about the party's petition. The Fayette County Election Board held a meeting in the morning to discuss the county election bureau's handling of the election for the seat.

Warman didn't issue a ruling, saying he would take the arguments and petition under advisement.

At stake is whether Republican Party nominee Gary Altman, a Uniontown attorney, will be uncontested or face a Democratic challenger in a special election on Nov. 3 for the council seat that ex-councilman Marlin Sprouts once held.

Sprouts won the office in the 2007 election, but was indicted in a federal mortgage fraud case about a month after he took office in January 2008. He resigned on March 17 after he was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution.

During the same March 17 meeting, council appointed Philip J. Michael to serve the remainder of Spouts' term, which would have expired at the end of 2011.

Michael resigned in April after Democratic council candidate Gary Gearing sued him, claiming he was not qualified for the office because he didn't live in the city for a year prior to his appointment and council should have appointed him to serve only until the November election.

Council then appointed Republican council candidate Curtis Sproul to fill the vacancy until the November election.

Attorney Douglas Sepic, who represents the county Democratic Party, argued in the petition that the Sept. 14 deadline to nominate candidates should be extended because the party was led to believe the seat would not appear on the Nov. 3 municipal election ballot and didn't learn it should be on the ballot until after the deadline passed.

Altman, who also represents the county Republican Party, made several arguments for dismissing the Democratic Party petition.

Altman said Sepic's petition was filed more than seven days after the Sept. 14 statutory filing deadline and state law requires such a petition to be filed no more than seven days after that deadline.

Secondly, Altman argued that there are no provisions in state law that would allow the court to override the Sept. 14 deadline, which was set by the state legislature.

However, an e-mail a Pennsylvania Department of State attorney sent the bureau last week stated the parties could petition the court to extend the deadline.

Fayette County Democratic Party Chairman Fred Lebder testified that he received a letter in March from the bureau saying the party had until Sept. 14 to nominate a candidate, but bureau director Laurie Lint said in a Sept. 10 article in the Herald-Standard that the seat would have to be filled through an appointment until the 2011 election.

He said he then went to the bureau office on a day Lint was not there and an office employee called someone in Harrisburg who confirmed that the seat should be filled through an appointment.

The election board discussed the confusion surrounding the seat, but didn't take any action because Sepic's petition was pending court action.

Board Chairman Vincent Zapotosky said the meeting was needed to restore public trust in the county election bureau, which he described as a "sacred institution."

Advertisement The court's decision will be binding, bureau solicitor Sheryl Heid Heid said, so the board did not have to take any action.

Heid said she and Lint originally reviewed applicable laws and determined that the council seat should appear on the November election ballot and council's appointment should expire on Jan. 1, 2010.

The bureau sent letters and nomination certificates to both parties on March 26.

The letters said nominations were due by Sept. 14, Heid said.

Sepic's petition requesting a hearing to extend the nomination deadline says state law requires nomination petitions and papers to be filed at least 50 days before the election and Sept. 14 was the deadline.

The Department of State e-mail advised the bureau that the seat should be on the November ballot because the vacancy existed at least 30 days before the election, but the election is a local matter and the department had no jurisdiction over the matter.

The bureau is not required to notify political parties about office vacancies, Heid said.

It is up to the parties to be aware of vacancies and nominate candidates to fill those offices, but the bureau tries to be helpful, Heid said.

State law requires a special election in November for the council seat, Heid said.

Heid said she began receiving phone calls about the seat the day after an article was published in the Herald-Standard on Sept. 10.

In the article, Lint said the bureau contacted state officials and was told council would have to fill the seat through an appointment until the 2011 election because the seat became vacant after the March 10 deadline to submit nominations for the primary election.

That information was not correct, Heid said.

She and Lint reviewed the matter the following week and determined that the March 26 letter to the parties contained the proper procedure for filling the seat, but, by that time, the Sept. 14 deadline had passed, Heid said.

The Democratic Party didn't nominate a candidate because of Lint's statement in the newspaper article, Sepic said in the petition seeking the nomination extension.

Altman's nomination came in a letter submitted on Sept. 14. The certificate that was enclosed with the March 26 letter was not used, but Lint said she accepted the nomination because no one objected to it.

At that time, Lint didn't believe the nomination was a major concern because she didn't think the seat would be on the November ballot, Heid said, adding that challenges to the nomination had to be filed within three days.

Zapotosky said he believes the bureau erred by accepting the Republican nomination because the party did not use the nomination certificate.

After the meeting, Zapotosky said he still had concerns about the mistakes the bureau made with the election for the council seat, calling it a breach of public trust.

Commissioner and board member Angela Zimmerlink said any matters concerning election bureau personnel and the solicitor would be addressed during a commissioners' meeting and not during an election board meeting.

Two city council seats will be on the ballot for the regular municipal election.

Uniontown City Council will have to make another appointment to fill the seat that former Councilman Marlin Sprouts held.

Fayette County Election Bureau Director Laurie Lint said Wednesday the bureau checked with the Pennsylvania Department of State and was told the seat will have to be filled through an appointment until the 2011 elections because Sprouts resigned after the March 10 deadline to file primary election petitions.

Sprouts resigned March 17 after he was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay restitution in a federal mortgage fraud case. He was indicted about a month after he took office in January 2007.

At its March 17 meeting, council appointed Philip J. Michael to serve the remainder of Sprouts' term, which would have ended in 2011.

Michael resigned on April 14 after Democratic City Council candidate Gary Gearing sued him, claiming he was not qualified to hold the office because he lived in the city for less than a year before he was appointed and council should have appointed him to serve only until the November election.

Council then appointed Republican council candidate Curtis Sproul to fill the vacancy until the general election on Nov. 3.

Advertisement If Sproul wins in November, council would have to appoint someone else to fill the vacant office until the 2011 elections.

Previously, Lint said the appointment would last until the November election when a special election would be held to fill the office and the Democratic and Republican parties had until Sept. 5 to submit nominations.

"It will not be on the (November) ballot," Lint said Wednesday.

Sproul, Republic candidate Russ Rhodes and Democratic candidates Francis "Joby" Palumbo and Gearing will run for two four-year terms in the November election.

A similar appointment situation is facing Fairchance Borough Council.

Council appointed council candidate Neal Christopher to fill a seat vacated by former council vice president Dora Miller's resignation in June. Lint said council would have to appoint someone to hold the office until the 2011 elections.

Christopher is one of four Democrats who won nominations in the primary and will run unopposed in November.

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34 state resolutions are the magic number which will initiate, basically automatically, a call for convening an Article V Convention.

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World Net Daily

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